Adjusting track density over disk radius by changing slope of spiral tracks used to servo write a disk drive

ABSTRACT

A method and apparatus is disclosed for adjusting the track density over the disk radius by changing the slope of spiral tracks used to servo write a disk drive. A plurality of spiral tracks are written to the disk wherein each spiral track comprises a high frequency signal interrupted at a predetermined interval by a sync mark. A slope of the spiral tracks over a first radial segment of the disk is substantially steeper than the slope of the spiral tracks over a second radial segment of the disk. The head internal to the disk drive is used to read the spiral tracks in order to write product servo sectors to the disk to define a plurality of data tracks. The steeper slope of the spiral tracks over the first radial segment causes a track density of the data tracks to be lower over the first radial segment compared to the track density of the data tracks over the second radial segment.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

1. Field of the Invention

The present invention relates to disk drives for computer systems. Moreparticularly, the present invention relates to adjusting track densityover disk radius by changing slope of spiral tracks used to servo writea disk drive.

2. Description of the Prior Art

When manufacturing a disk drive, servo sectors 2 ₀–2 _(N) are written toa disk 4 which define a plurality of radially-spaced, concentric datatracks 6 as shown in the prior art disk format of FIG. 1. Each datatrack 6 is partitioned into a plurality of data sectors wherein theservo sectors 2 ₀–2 _(N) are considered “embedded” in the data sectors.Each servo sector (e.g., servo sector 2 ₄) comprises a preamble 8 forsynchronizing gain control and timing recovery, a sync mark 10 forsynchronizing to a data field 12 comprising coarse head positioninginformation such as a track number, and servo bursts 14 which providefine head positioning information. The coarse head position informationis processed to position a head over a target track during a seekoperation, and the servo bursts 14 are processed to maintain the headover a centerline of the target track while writing or reading dataduring a tracking operation.

The track density as determined from the width of each track 6 istypically adjusted over the disk radius to compensate for degradation inreproduction accuracy due to various factors. For example, the trackdensity is typically decreased toward the outer diameter tracks whereservo errors (track misregistration errors) are amplified due to theincrease in linear velocity, windage, and disk flutter affects. Thetrack density may also be decreased toward the inner diameter tracks toreduce inter-track interference caused by the YAW angle of the actuatorarm, particularly in disk drives employing magnetoresistive (MR) headswherein a gap exists between the read element and the write element.

In the past, external servo writers have been used to write the productservo sectors 2 ₀–2 _(N) to the disk surface during manufacturing.External servo writers employ extremely accurate head positioningmechanics, such as a laser interferometer, to ensure the product servosectors 2 ₀–2 _(N) are written at the proper radial location from theouter diameter of the disk to the inner diameter of the disk, as well asto adjust the track density over the disk radius. However, externalservo writers are expensive and require a clean room environment so thata head positioning pin can be inserted into the head disk assembly (HDA)without contaminating the disk. Thus, external servo writers have becomean expensive bottleneck in the disk drive manufacturing process.

The prior art has suggested various “self-servo” writing methods whereinthe internal electronics of the disk drive are used to write the productservo sectors independent of an external servo writer. For example, U.S.Pat. No. 5,668,679 teaches a disk drive which performs a self-servowriting operation by writing a plurality of spiral tracks to the diskwhich are then processed to write the product servo sectors along acircular path. Each spiral track is written to the disk as a highfrequency signal (with missing bits), wherein the position error signal(PES) for tracking is generated relative to time shifts in the detectedlocation of the spiral tracks. However, the '679 patent does notdisclose how to adjust the track density over the disk radius when servowriting a disk drive from spiral tracks.

There is, therefore, a need to adjust the track density over the diskradius when servo writing a disk drive from spiral tracks.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

The present invention may be regarded as a method of writing productservo sectors to a disk of a disk drive to define a plurality of datatracks. The disk drive comprises control circuitry and a head diskassembly (HDA) comprising the disk, an actuator arm, a head coupled to adistal end of the actuator arm, and a voice coil motor for rotating theactuator arm about a pivot to position the head radially over the disk.A plurality of spiral tracks are written to the disk, wherein eachspiral track comprises a high frequency signal interrupted at apredetermined interval by a sync mark, and a slope of the spiral tracksover a first radial segment of the disk is substantially steeper thanthe slope of the spiral tracks over a second radial segment of the disk.The head internal to the disk drive is used to read the spiral tracks togenerate a read signal. The read signal is processed to detect the syncmarks in the spiral tracks to synchronize a servo write clock. The readsignal is also processed to demodulate the high frequency signal in thespiral tracks to generate a position error signal used to maintain thehead internal to the disk drive along a first target circular path. Thehead internal to the disk drive and the servo write clock are used towrite product servo sectors to the disk, wherein the steeper slope ofthe spiral tracks over the first radial segment causes a track densityof the data tracks to be lower over the first radial segment compared tothe track density of the data tracks over the second radial segment.

In one embodiment, the first radial segment includes an outer diameterband of the data tracks and the second radial segment includes a middlediameter band of the data tracks. In another embodiment, the firstradial segment includes an inner diameter band of data tracks and thesecond radial segment includes a middle diameter band of data tracks.

In yet another embodiment, the head internal to the disk drive is usedto write the spiral tracks to the disk, and the actuator arm is rotatedabout a pivot to move the head radially across the disk while writingthe spiral tracks. The actuator arm is moved at a first angular velocitywhile writing the spiral tracks over the first radial segment and movedat a second angular velocity while writing the spiral tracks over thesecond radial segment, wherein the first angular velocity issubstantially greater than the second angular velocity. In oneembodiment, an external spiral track writer is used to write the spiraltracks to the disk.

In still another embodiment, the step of demodulating the high frequencysignal in the spiral tracks comprises the step of opening a demodulationwindow using the servo write clock, further comprising the step ofshifting the demodulation window in time relative to the servo writeclock to seek the head from the first target circular path to a secondtarget circular path.

In yet another embodiment, the step of demodulating the high frequencysignal in the spiral tracks comprises the step of demodulating the highfrequency signal into a plurality of servo burst signals. In oneembodiment, the step of generating the position error signal comprisesthe step of computing a difference between the servo burst signals. Inanother embodiment, the step of shifting the demodulation window causesthe plurality of servo burst signals to shift a corresponding amount togenerate a non-zero position error signal.

In yet another embodiment, the step of demodulating the high frequencysignal in the spiral tracks comprises the step of integrating the readsignal to generate a ramp signal. In one embodiment, the position errorsignal is generated relative to a target sync mark in a spiral track anda reference point of the ramp signal. In another embodiment, the step ofshifting the demodulation window causes a corresponding shift in thetarget sync mark to generate a non-zero position error signal.

In still another embodiment, the step of demodulating the high frequencysignal in the spiral tracks comprises the step of generating an envelopesignal from the read signal. In one embodiment, the position errorsignal is generated relative to a target sync mark in a spiral track anda peak in the envelope signal. In another embodiment, the step ofshifting the demodulation window causes a corresponding shift in thetarget sync mark to generate a non-zero position error signal.

The present invention may also be regarded as a disk drive comprising adisk having a plurality of spiral tracks recorded thereon, wherein eachspiral track comprises a high frequency signal interrupted at apredetermined interval by a sync mark, and a slope of the spiral tracksover a first radial segment of the disk is substantially steeper thanthe slope of the spiral tracks over a second radial segment of the disk.The disk drive further comprises a head actuated over the disk andcontrol circuitry for writing product servo sectors to the disk todefine a plurality of data tracks. The head internal to the disk driveis used to read the spiral tracks to generate a read signal. The readsignal is processed to detect the sync marks in the spiral tracks tosynchronize a servo write clock. The read signal is also processed todemodulate the high frequency signal in the spiral tracks to generate aposition error signal used to maintain the head internal to the diskdrive along a first target circular path. The head internal to the diskdrive and the servo write clock are used to write product servo sectorsto the disk, wherein the steeper slope of the spiral tracks over thefirst radial segment causes a track density of the data tracks to belower over the first radial segment compared to the track density of thedata tracks over the second radial segment.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 shows a prior art disk format comprising a plurality of radiallyspaced, concentric tracks defined by a plurality of product servosectors.

FIGS. 2A and 2B illustrate an embodiment of the present inventionwherein an external spiral servo writer is used to write a plurality ofspiral tracks to the disk for use in writing product servo sectors tothe disk.

FIG. 3 illustrates an embodiment of the present invention wherein eachspiral track is written over multiple revolutions of the disk.

FIG. 4A shows an embodiment of the present invention wherein a servowrite clock is synchronized by clocking a modulo-N counter relative towhen the sync marks in the spiral tracks are detected.

FIG. 4B shows an eye pattern generated by reading the spiral track,including the sync marks in the spiral track.

FIG. 5 illustrates writing of product servo sectors using a servo writeclock generated from reading the spiral tracks.

FIGS. 6A–6B illustrate how in one embodiment the control circuitry fordemodulating the servo bursts in product servo sectors is also used todemodulate the high frequency signal in the spiral tracks as servobursts to generate the PES for tracking.

FIGS. 7A–7B shows an embodiment wherein the control circuitry of FIGS.6A–6B is modified so that the servo write clock samples the read signalover the entire eye pattern (including the servo bursts) in order tomaintain synchronization.

FIGS. 8A–8B show an embodiment of the present invention for calibratingthe correlation between the PES generated from reading the spiral tracksand off-track displacement.

FIGS. 9A–9C illustrate a seek operation to a next servo track byshifting the demodulation window an integer number of sync markintervals to generate a non-zero PES signal.

FIG. 10A illustrates an embodiment of the present invention wherein thehigh frequency signal in the spiral tracks is demodulated by integratingthe read signal over the demodulation window and generating the PESrelative to a target sync mark and a reference point on the resultingramp signal.

FIG. 10B illustrates initiating a seek operation by shifting thedemodulation window an integer number of sync marks to generate anon-zero PES.

FIG. 11A illustrates an embodiment of the present invention wherein thehigh frequency signal in the spiral tracks is demodulated by envelopedetecting the read signal over the demodulation window and generatingthe PES relative to a target sync mark and the peak in the envelopesignal.

FIG. 11B illustrates initiating a seek operation by shifting thedemodulation window an integer number of sync marks to generate anon-zero PES.

FIG. 12A illustrates how in an embodiment of the present inventionincreasing the slope of the spiral tracks results in a correspondingdecrease in the track density.

FIG. 12B shows an embodiment of the present invention wherein thealgorithm for generating the PES may be modified if the slope of thespiral tracks increases beyond a predetermined threshold.

FIG. 12C shows an embodiment of the present invention wherein the spiraltracks are written with a steeper slope at the outer and inner diameterdata tracks as compared to the middle diameter data tracks in order todecrease the track density over the outer diameter and inner diameterdata tracks.

FIG. 12D shows an embodiment wherein the slope of the spiral tracksgradually increases toward the outer diameter data tracks and the innerdiameter data tracks.

FIG. 13 shows an embodiment of the present invention wherein an externalproduct servo writer is used to process the spiral tracks in order towrite the product servo sectors to the disk.

FIG. 14 shows an embodiment of the present invention wherein an externalspiral servo writer is used to write the spiral tracks, and a pluralityof external product servo writers write the product servo sectors forthe HDAs output by the external spiral servo writer.

FIG. 15 shows an embodiment of the present invention wherein an externalspiral servo writer is used to write the spiral tracks, and the controlcircuitry within each product disk drive is used to write the productservo sectors.

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS

FIGS. 2A and 2B show an embodiment of the present invention wherein aplurality of spiral tracks 20 ₀–20 _(N) are written to a disk 18 of adisk drive 16 using an external spiral servo writer 36 (in analternative embodiment, the spiral tracks are stamped onto the diskusing magnetic printing techniques). The disk drive 16 comprises controlcircuitry 34 and a head disk assembly (HDA) 32 comprising the disk 18,an actuator arm 26, a head 28 coupled to a distal end of the actuatorarm 26, and a voice coil motor 30 for rotating the actuator arm 26 abouta pivot to position the head 28 radially over the disk 18. A write clockis synchronized to the rotation of the disk 18, and the plurality ofspiral tracks 20 ₀–20 _(N) are written on the disk 18 at a predeterminedcircular location determined from the write clock. Each spiral track 20_(i) comprises a high frequency signal 22 (FIG. 4B) interrupted at apredetermined interval by a sync mark 24.

The spiral tracks 20 ₀–20 _(N) are written (or stamped) such that over afirst radial segment of the disk 4, a slope of the spiral tracks 20 ₀–20_(N) is steeper than a second radial segment of the disk 4. As describedin greater detail below, when writing the product servo sectors thevarying slope of the spiral tracks 20 ₀–20 _(N) causes a track densityof the resulting data tracks to be lower over the first radial segmentof the disk compared to the track density of the data tracks over thesecond radial segment of the disk. For example, the slope of the spiraltracks 20 ₀–20 _(N) is increased toward the outer diameter data tracksin order to decrease the track density, thereby reducing servo errorsdue to the increase in linear velocity, windage, and disk flutteraffects.

The external spiral servo writer 36 comprises a head positioner 38 foractuating a head positioning pin 40 using sensitive positioningcircuitry, such as a laser interferometer. While the head positioner 38moves the head 28 at a predetermined velocity over the stroke of theactuator arm 26, pattern circuitry 42 generates the data sequencewritten to the disk 18 for a spiral track 20 _(i). In one embodiment,the external spiral servo writer 36 increases the slope of the spiraltracks 20 ₀–20 _(N) over the first radial segment (e.g., near the outerdiameter of the disk 4) by increasing the angular velocity of theactuator arm 26 while writing the spiral tracks 20 ₀–20 _(N) over thefirst radial segment.

The external spiral servo writer 36 inserts a clock head 46 into the HDA32 for writing a clock track 44 (FIG. 2B) at an outer diameter of thedisk 18. The clock head 46 then reads the clock track 44 to generate aclock signal 48 processed by timing recovery circuitry 50 to synchronizethe write clock 51 for writing the spiral tracks 20 ₀–20 _(N) to thedisk 18. The timing recovery circuitry 50 enables the pattern circuitry42 at the appropriate time relative to the write clock 51 so that thespiral tracks 20 ₀–20 _(N) are written at the appropriate circularlocation. The timing recovery circuitry 50 also enables the patterncircuitry 42 relative to the write clock 51 to write the sync marks 24(FIG. 4B) within the spiral tracks 20 ₀–20 _(N) at the same circularlocation from the outer diameter to the inner diameter of the disk 18.As described below with reference to FIG. 5, the constant intervalbetween sync marks 24 (independent of the radial location of the head28) enables the servo write clock to maintain synchronization whilewriting the product servo sectors to the disk.

In the embodiment of FIG. 2B, each spiral track 20 _(i) is written overa partial revolution of the disk 18. In an alternative embodiment, eachspiral track 20 _(i) is written over one or more revolutions of the disk18. FIG. 3 shows an embodiment wherein each spiral track 20 _(i) iswritten over multiple revolutions of the disk 18. In the embodiment ofFIG. 2A, the entire disk drive 16 is shown as being inserted into theexternal spiral servo writer 36. In an alternative embodiment, only theHDA 32 is inserted into the external spiral servo writer 36. In yetanother embodiment, an external media writer is used to write the spiraltracks 20 ₀–20 _(N) to a number of disks 18, and one or more of thedisks 18 are then inserted into an HDA 32.

Referring again to the embodiment of FIG. 2A, after the external spiralservo writer 36 writes the spiral tracks 20 ₀–20 _(N) to the disk 18,the head positioning pin 40 and clock head 46 are removed from the HDA32 and the product servo sectors are written to the disk 18 during a“fill operation”. In one embodiment, the control circuitry 34 within thedisk drive 16 is used to process the spiral tracks 20 ₀–20 _(N) in orderto write the product servo sectors to the disk 18. In an alternativeembodiment described below with reference to FIGS. 13 and 14, anexternal product servo writer is used to process the spiral tracks 20₀–20 _(N) in order to write the product servo sectors to the disk 18.

FIG. 4B illustrates an “eye” pattern in the read signal that isgenerated when the head 28 passes over a spiral track 20. The readsignal representing the spiral track comprises high frequencytransitions 22 interrupted by sync marks 24. When the head 28 moves inthe radial direction, the eye pattern will shift (left or right) whilethe sync marks 24 remain fixed. The shift in the eye pattern (detectedfrom the high frequency signal 22) relative to the sync marks 24provides the off-track information (position error signal or PES) forservoing the head 28.

FIG. 4A shows an embodiment of the present invention wherein a saw-toothwaveform 52 is generated by clocking a modulo-N counter with the servowrite clock, wherein the frequency of the servo write clock is adjusteduntil the sync marks 24 in the spiral tracks 20 ₀–20 _(N) are detectedat a target modulo-N count value. The servo write clock may be generatedusing any suitable circuitry, such as a phase locked loop (PLL). As eachsync mark 24 in the spiral tracks 20 ₀–20 _(N) is detected, the value ofthe modulo-N counter represents the phase error for adjusting the PLL.In one embodiment, the PLL is updated when any one of the sync marks 24within the eye pattern is detected. In this manner the multiple syncmarks 24 in each eye pattern (each spiral track crossing) providesredundancy so that the PLL is still updated if one or more of the syncmarks 24 are missed due to noise in the read signal. Once the sync marks24 are detected at the target modulo-N counter values, the servo writeclock is coarsely locked to the desired frequency for writing theproduct servo sectors to the disk 18.

The sync marks 24 in the spiral tracks 20 ₀–20 _(N) may comprise anysuitable pattern, and in one embodiment, a pattern that is substantiallyshorter than the sync mark 10 in the conventional product servo sectors2 of FIG. 1. A shorter sync mark 24 allows the spiral tracks 20 ₀–20_(N) to be written to the disk 18 using a steeper slope (by moving thehead faster from the outer diameter to the inner diameter of the disk18), which reduces the time required to write each spiral track 20 ₀–20_(N).

In one embodiment, the servo write clock is further synchronized bygenerating a timing recovery measurement from the high frequency signal22 between the sync marks 24 in the spiral tracks 20 ₀–20 _(N).Synchronizing the servo write clock to the high frequency signal 22helps maintain proper radial alignment (phase coherency) of the Graycoded track addresses in the product servo sectors. The timing recoverymeasurement may be generated in any suitable manner. In one embodiment,the servo write clock is used to sample the high frequency signal 22 andthe signal sample values are processed to generate the timing recoverymeasurement. The timing recovery measurement adjusts the phase of theservo write clock (PLL) so that the high frequency signal 22 is sampledsynchronously. In this manner, the sync marks 24 provide a coarse timingrecovery measurement and the high frequency signal 22 provides a finetiming recovery measurement for maintaining synchronization of the servowrite clock.

FIG. 5 illustrates how the product servo sectors 56 ₀–56 _(N) arewritten to the disk 18 after synchronizing the servo write clock inresponse to the high frequency signal 22 and the sync marks 24 in thespiral tracks 20 ₀–20 _(N). In the embodiment of FIG. 5, the dashedlines represent the centerlines of the data tracks. The sync marks inthe spiral tracks 20 ₀–20 _(N) are written so that there is a shift oftwo sync marks 24 in the eye pattern (FIG. 4B) between data tracks. Inan alternative embodiment, the sync marks 24 in the spiral tracks 20₀–20 _(N) are written so that there is a shift of N sync marks in theeye pattern between data tracks. In the embodiment of FIG. 5, the datatracks are narrower than the spiral tracks 20, however, in analternative embodiment the data tracks are wider than or proximate thewidth of the spiral tracks 20.

The PES for maintaining the head 28 along a servo track (tracking) maybe generated from the spiral tracks 20 ₀–20 _(N) in any suitable manner.Once the head 28 is tracking on a servo track, the product servo sectors56 ₀–56 _(N) are written to the disk using the servo write clock. Writecircuitry is enabled when the modulo-N counter reaches a predeterminedvalue, wherein the servo write clock clocks the write circuitry to writethe product servo sector 56 to the disk. The spiral tracks 20 ₀–20 _(N)on the disk are processed in an interleaved manner to account for theproduct servo sectors 56 ₀–56 _(N) overwriting a spiral track. Forexample, when writing the product servo sectors 56 ₁ to the disk, spiraltrack 20 ₂ is processed initially to generate the PES tracking error andthe timing recovery measurement. When the product servo sectors 56 ₁begin to overwrite spiral track 20 ₂, spiral track 20 ₃ is processed togenerate the PES tracking error and the timing recovery measurement. Inthe embodiment of FIG. 5, the spiral tracks 20 are written as pairs tofacilitate the interleave processing; however, the spiral tracks may bewritten using any suitable spacing (e.g., equal spacing) while stillimplementing the interleaving aspect.

FIGS. 6A–6B illustrate an embodiment of the present invention whereincontrol circuitry for demodulating the servo bursts in prior art productservo sectors is also used to demodulate the high frequency signal inthe spiral tracks 20 as servo bursts to generate the PES for tracking.FIG. 6A shows the eye pattern of FIG. 4B, which is processed, similar tothe prior art product servo sector shown in FIG. 1. The servo writeclock is used to open a demodulation window as the head approaches aspiral track. The first segment 22A of the high frequency signal in theeye pattern of FIG. 6A is processed as a preamble similar to thepreamble 8 in FIG. 1 for synchronizing to the read signal. The firstsync mark 24A in the eye pattern is processed similar to the sync mark10 in FIG. 1. The following segments 22B–22E of the high frequencysignal in the eye pattern are demodulated as servo bursts used togenerate the PES for tracking.

FIG. 6B shows example control circuitry for demodulating the prior artproduct servo sector of FIG. 1 as well as the eye pattern (FIG. 6A) ofthe spiral tracks 20. The embodiment employs a read oscillator 60 and awrite oscillator 62. The read oscillator 60 generates a read clock 58for sampling the read signal 64 during normal operation whendemodulating the product servo sectors 56 and user data recorded on thedisk. The write oscillator 62 generates the servo write clock 66 used towrite the product servo sectors 56 to the disk during the filloperation. The write oscillator 62 is also used to sample the readsignal 64 when demodulating the servo bursts from the high frequencysignal 22 in the spiral tracks 20. When the head 28 approaches a spiraltrack 20 as determined from the servo write clock 66, a demodulationwindow is opened for demodulating the high frequency signal 22 in thespiral track 20 to generate the position error signal used for tracking.

In one embodiment, after opening the demodulation window the read clock58 samples the read signal 64 when reading the first segment 22A of thehigh frequency signal representing the preamble as well as the firstsync mark 24A in the eye pattern (FIG. 6A) of the spiral tracks 20. Theread clock 58 is selected by multiplexer 68 as the sampling clock 70 forsampling 72 the read signal 64. A first timing recovery circuit 76 opensthe demodulation window at the appropriate time as determined from theservo write clock 66, and then processes the read signal sample values74 to generate a timing recovery signal used to adjust the readoscillator 60 until the read clock 58 is sampling the preamble 22Asynchronously. Once locked onto the preamble 22A, a sync detector 78 isenabled for detecting the sync mark 24A in the eye pattern. When thesync detector 78 detects the sync mark 24A, it activates a sync detectsignal 80. The first timing recovery circuit 76 responds to the syncdetect signal 80 by configuring the multiplexer 68 over line 82 toselect the servo write clock 66 as the sampling clock 70. The firsttiming recovery circuit 76 enables a timer for timing an intervalbetween the sync mark 24A and the start of the A servo burst 22B in theeye pattern. When the timer expires, the first timing recovery circuit76 enables a burst demodulator 84 over line 86 for demodulating the A,B, C and D servo bursts in the eye pattern from the read signal samplevalues 74. In one embodiment, the demodulation window comprises aplurality of servo burst windows (square waves) corresponding to theintervals for demodulating the A, B, C and D servo bursts.

In one embodiment, the burst demodulator 84 rectifies and integrates therectified read signal sample values 74 representing the respective A, B,C and D servo bursts to generate respective servo burst signals 88 whichcorrespond to integrating the A, B, C and D servo bursts 14 in the priorart product servo sector of FIG. 1. A PES generator 90 processes theservo burst signals 88 to generate a PES signal 92 used for tracking.The PES generator 90 may compare the servo burst signals 88 to generatethe PES signal 92 using any suitable algorithm when demodulating theservo bursts in either the prior art product servo sectors of FIG. 1 orthe eye pattern of FIG. 6A. In one embodiment, the PES signal 92 whenreading the eye pattern of FIG. 6A is generated according to(A−D)/(A+D). In this embodiment, evaluating the servo bursts near theedges of the eye pattern increases the sensitivity of the PESmeasurement. This is because deviations in the radial location of thehead 28 cause a more precipitous change in the servo burst values at theedges of the eye pattern as compared to the servo burst values near thecenter of the eye pattern.

In the embodiment of FIG. 6B, a control signal C/S 94 configures thefirst timing recovery circuit 76, the sync detector 78, and the PESgenerator 90 depending on whether the control circuitry is configuredfor demodulating the product servo sector (prior art product servosector of FIG. 1) or the spiral tracks. The first timing recoverycircuit 76 adjusts the timing between the detection of the sync mark (10in FIG. 1 and 24A in FIG. 6A) and the start of the A servo burst (14 inFIG. 1 and 22B in FIG. 6A). The sync detector 78 adjusts the target syncpattern depending on whether the sync mark 10 in the product servosector is being detected or the sync mark 24A in the eye pattern of thespiral track. The PES generator 90 adjusts the algorithm for comparingthe servo burst signals 88 depending on whether the servo bursts 14 inthe product servo sectors are being demodulated or the servo bursts22B–22E in the eye pattern of the spiral track are being demodulated.

The control circuitry in the embodiment of FIG. 6B further comprises asecond timing recovery circuit 96 for generating a timing recoverymeasurement that controls the write oscillator 62 for generating theservo write clock 66. The second timing recovery circuit 96 comprisesthe modulo-N counter, which is synchronized to the sync marks 24 in thespiral tracks 20. When servoing on the spiral tracks 20, the secondtiming recovery circuit 96 enables a sync mark detection window overline 98 commensurate with the modulo-N counter approaching a valuecorresponding to the expected occurrence of a sync mark 24 in a spiraltrack. When a sync mark 24 is actually detected over line 80, the secondtiming recovery circuit 96 generates a coarse timing recoverymeasurement as the difference between the expected value of the module-Ncounter and the actual value. When reading the high frequency signal 22in the spiral tracks, the second timing recovery circuit 96 generates afine timing recovery measurement using any suitable timing recoveryalgorithm. For example, the fine timing recovery measurement can begenerated using a suitable timing gradient, a suitable trigonometricidentity, or a suitable digital signal processing algorithm such as theDiscrete Fourier Transform (DFT). The coarse and fine timing recoverymeasurements are combined and used to adjust the write oscillator 62 inorder to maintain synchronization of the servo write clock 66.

The servo write clock 66 is applied to write circuitry 100 used to writethe product servo sectors 56 to the disk during the fill operation. Thesecond timing recovery circuit 96 generates a control signal 102 forenabling the write circuitry 100 at the appropriate time so that theproduct servo sectors 56 are written at the appropriate circumferentiallocation from the outer diameter of the disk to the inner diameter ofthe disk. In one embodiment, the control signal 102 enables the writecircuitry 100 each time the module-N counter reaches a predeterminedvalue so that the product servo sectors 56 form servo wedges asillustrated in FIG. 1 and FIG. 5.

Although the first timing recovery circuit 76 and second timing recoverycircuit 96 in FIG. 6B adjust the frequency of sampling clock 70 untilthe read signal 64 is sampled 72 synchronously, any suitable timingrecovery technique may be employed. In an alternative embodiment,interpolated timing recovery is employed. With interpolated timingrecovery the read signal 64 is sampled asynchronously and interpolatedto generate the synchronous sample values 74.

In an alternative embodiment shown in FIGS. 7A and 7B, the servo writeclock 66 is used to sample the read signal over the entire eye pattern(spiral track crossing). The timing recovery circuitry 96 in FIG. 7Bopens the demodulation window at the start of the A servo burst 22B andcloses the demodulation window at the end of the D servo burst 22E asdetermined from the servo write clock 66. In one embodiment, the timingrecovery circuitry 96 generates servo burst windows within thedemodulation window corresponding to the intervals for demodulating theA, B, C and D servo bursts.

FIGS. 8A and 8B illustrate an embodiment of the present invention forcalibrating the correlation between the PES generated from demodulatingthe spiral tracks 20 and the off-track displacement of the head 28. Thesegments 22B–22E of the high frequency signal in the spiral tracks 20are demodulated as servo bursts to generate corresponding servo burstsignals A, B, C and D. A PES is generated by comparing the servo burstsignals according to any suitable algorithm, such as (A−D)/(A+D). Asshown in FIG. 8A, when the head 28 is on track a predeterminedrelationship between the servo burst signals (e.g., A=D) generates apredetermined value for the PES (e.g., zero). The head 28 is then movedaway from the center of the track until the servo burst signals reach asecond predetermined relationship (e.g., B=D) as shown in FIG. 8B. Whenthe servo burst signals reach the second predetermined relationship, theshift in the eye pattern relative to the sync marks 24A–24D is known andtherefore the amount of off-track displacement is known. Measuring thePES when the servo burst signals reach the second predeterminedrelationship provides the correlation (assuming a linear relationship)between the PES and the amount of off-track displacement.

FIGS. 9A–9B illustrate a seek operation from a current servo track to anext servo track by shifting the demodulation window an integer numberof sync mark intervals to generate a non-zero PES signal for moving thehead toward the next servo track. In the embodiment of FIG. 9A, thedemodulation window and corresponding intervals (windows) for thepreamble 22A and servo bursts 22B–22E are shifted by one sync markinterval relative to FIG. 8A (i.e., there is a shift of one sync markper servo track). After synchronizing to the preamble 22A, sync mark 24Bis detected to enable the timer for timing the interval between the syncmark 24B and the start of the A servo burst 22B. The servo bursts22B–22E are then demodulated to generate a non-zero PES which causes theservo control circuitry to move the head 28 toward the next servo track.FIG. 9B illustrates the head 28 moving toward the next servo track andthe corresponding shift in the eye pattern and change in the PES. FIG.9C illustrates the end of the seek operation after the head 28 reachesthe next servo track and the eye pattern has shifted such that the Aservo burst 22B equals the D servo burst 22E resulting in a zero PES.

Defining the servo track width as a shift in an integer number of syncmarks (one sync mark in the example of FIGS. 9A–9C) simplifiesimplementation of the seek operation. The servo demodulation window asdetermined from the servo write clock 66 is simply shifted by an integernumber of sync mark intervals to initiate the seek operation. Thedemodulation window may be shifted any suitable number of sync markintervals depending on the frequency of the sync marks 24 in the spiraltracks 20 and the desired servo track density.

The high frequency signal 22 in the spiral tracks 20 may be demodulatedusing any suitable technique to generate the PES for tracking. FIG. 10Ashows an embodiment of the present invention wherein the high frequencysignal 22 in a spiral track 20 is demodulated by integrating the readsignal to generate a ramp signal 101. The PES is generated relative to atarget sync mark 24 in the spiral track 20 and a reference point of theramp signal 101. In the embodiment of FIG. 10A, there are three syncmarks 24A–24C in each spiral track crossing (each eye pattern) and thePES is generated as the deviation of the middle sync mark 24B from thecenter of the ramp signal 101. This deviation can be computed as thedifference in the amplitude of the ramp signal 101 when the middle syncmark 24B is detected, or the difference in time between when the middlesync mark 24B is detected and the middle of the ramp signal 101. Also inthis embodiment, the demodulation window is opened a number of sync markintervals preceding the expected spiral track crossing (one sync markinterval in this example) and closed a number of sync mark intervalsafter the expected spiral track crossing (one sync mark interval in thisexample). In one embodiment, the ramp signal 101 is generated byintegrating the high frequency signal 22 between the sync marks 24; thatis, integration windows within the demodulation window are generatedcorresponding to the segments of high frequency signal 22 between eachsync mark 24 (as determined from servo write clock 66). FIG. 10Billustrates a seek operation by shifting the demodulation window onesync mark interval to generate a non-zero PES which causes the head 28to move toward the next servo track. The head 28 is moved radially sothat the eye pattern shifts until sync mark 24C is detected in themiddle of the eye pattern corresponding to the middle of the ramp signal101.

FIG. 11A illustrates yet another embodiment of the present inventionwherein the high frequency signal 22 in the spiral tracks 20 isdemodulated by generating an envelope signal 103 from the read signal.The PES is generated relative to a target sync mark 24 in the spiraltrack 20 and a peak in the envelope signal 103. In the embodiment ofFIG. 11A, there are three sync marks 24A–24C in each spiral trackcrossing (each eye pattern) and the PES is generated as the deviation ofthe middle sync mark 24B from the peak of the envelope signal 103. Thisdeviation can be computed as the difference in the amplitude of theenvelope signal 103 when the middle sync mark 24B is detected, or thedifference in time between when the middle sync mark 24B is detected andthe peak of the envelope signal 103. Also in this embodiment, thedemodulation window is opened a number of sync mark intervals precedingthe expected spiral track crossing (one sync mark interval in thisexample) and closed a number of sync mark intervals after the expectedspiral track crossing (one sync mark interval in this example). FIG. 11Billustrates a seek operation by shifting the demodulation window onesync mark interval to generate a non-zero PES which causes the head 28to seek toward the next servo track. The head 28 is moved radially sothat the eye pattern shifts until sync mark 24C is detected in themiddle of the eye pattern corresponding to the peak of the envelopesignal 103.

FIG. 12A illustrates how increasing the slope of the spiral tracks 20₀–20 _(N) decreases the track density of the data tracks (dashed lines)as compared to the slope of the spiral tracks 20 ₀–20 _(N) and trackdensity of the data tracks shown in FIG. 5. In one embodiment, the samealgorithm for generating the PES (e.g., using servo burst windows as inFIG. 6A) is used over the length of the spiral tracks 20 ₀–20 _(N) eventhough the slope is changing over different radial segments (e.g., overthe outer and/or inner radial segments). In another embodiment, if theslope of the spiral tracks 20 ₀–20 _(N) exceeds a predeterminedthreshold, the PES algorithm is adjusted to compensate for the changingcharacteristics of the high frequency signal 22 relative to the syncmarks 24. FIG. 12B shows an embodiment wherein the slope of the spiraltracks 20 ₀–20 _(N) has increased to the extent that adjusting the PESalgorithm, for example by adjusting the servo burst windows of FIG. 5,may improve servo tracking performance.

FIG. 12C illustrates how in one embodiment the slope of the spiraltracks 20 ₀–20 _(N) is increased near the outer diameter (OD) and innerdiameter (ID) compared to the middle diameter (MD). This results in alower density for the data tracks (dashed lines) at the OD and ID ascompared to the density for the data tracks at the MD. In the embodimentof FIG. 12C, the slope of the spiral tracks 20 ₀–20 _(N) is shown ascomprising discrete segments having respective slopes over the OD, MDand ID. In an alternative embodiment shown in FIG. 12D, the slope of thespiral tracks 20 ₀–20 _(N) changes gradually over the disk radius suchthat the track density decreases gradually toward the OD and ID.

FIG. 13 shows an embodiment of the present invention wherein afterwriting the spiral tracks 20 ₀–20 _(N) to the disk 18 (FIGS. 2A–2B), theHDA 32 is inserted into an external product servo writer 104 comprisingsuitable circuitry for reading and processing the spiral tracks 20 ₀–20_(N) in order to write the product servo sectors 56 ₀–56 _(N) to thedisk 18. The external product servo writer 104 comprises a read/writechannel 106 for interfacing with a preamp 108 in the HDA 32. The preamp108 amplifies a read signal emanating from the head 28 over line 110 togenerate an amplified read signal applied to the read/write channel 106over line 112. The read/write channel 106 comprises circuitry forgenerating servo burst signals 88 applied to a servo controller 114. Theservo controller 114 processes the servo burst signals 88 to generatethe PES. The PES is processed to generate a VCM control signal appliedto the VCM 30 over line 116 in order to maintain the head 28 along acircular path while writing the product servo sectors 56 ₀–56 _(N). Theservo controller 114 also generates a spindle motor control signalapplied to a spindle motor 118 over line 120 to maintain the disk 18 ata desired angular velocity. Control circuitry 122 processes informationreceived from the read/write channel 106 over line 124 associated withthe spiral tracks 20 ₀–20 _(N) (e.g., timing information) and providesthe product servo sector data to the read/write channel 106 at theappropriate time. The product servo sector data is provided to thepreamp 108, which modulates a current in the head 28 in order to writethe product servo sectors 56 ₀–56 _(N) to the disk 18. The controlcircuitry 122 also transmits control information over line 126 to theservo controller 114 such as the target servo track to be written. Afterwriting the product servo sectors 56 ₀–56 _(N) to the disk 18, the HDA32 is removed from the external product servo writer 104 and a printedcircuit board assembly (PCBA) comprising the control circuitry 34 (FIG.2A) is mounted to the HDA 32.

In one embodiment, the external product servo writer 104 of FIG. 13interfaces with the HDA 32 over the same connections as the controlcircuitry 34 to minimize the modifications needed to facilitate theexternal product servo writer 104. The external product servo writer 104is less expensive than a conventional servo writer because it does notrequire a clean room or sophisticated head positioning mechanics. In anembodiment shown in FIG. 14, a plurality of external product servowriters 104 ₀–104 _(N) process the HDAs 32 _(i)–32 _(i+N) output by anexternal spiral servo writer 36 in order to write the product servosectors less expensively and more efficiently than a conventional servowriter. In an alternative embodiment shown in FIG. 15, an externalspiral servo writer 36 is used to write the spiral tracks, and thecontrol circuitry 34 within each product disk drive 16 _(i)–16 _(i+N) isused to write the product servo sectors.

1. A method of writing product servo sectors to a disk of a disk driveto define a plurality of data tracks, the disk drive comprising controlcircuitry and a head disk assembly (HDA) comprising the disk, anactuator arm, a head coupled to a distal end of the actuator arm, and avoice coil motor for rotating the actuator arm about a pivot to positionthe head radially over the disk, the method comprising the steps of: (a)writing a plurality of spiral tracks to the disk, wherein: each spiraltrack comprises a high frequency signal interrupted at a predeterminedinterval by a sync mark; and a slope of the spiral tracks over a firstradial segment of the disk is substantially steeper than the slope ofthe spiral tracks over a second radial segment of the disk; (b) usingthe head internal to the disk drive to read the spiral tracks togenerate a read signal; (c) processing the read signal to detect thesync marks in the spiral tracks to synchronize a servo write clock; (d)processing the read signal to demodulate the high frequency signal inthe spiral tracks to generate a position error signal used to maintainthe head internal to the disk drive along a first target circular path;and (e) using the head internal to the disk drive and the servo writeclock to write product servo sectors to the disk; wherein the steeperslope of the spiral tracks over the first radial segment causes a trackdensity of the data tracks to be lower over the first radial segmentcompared to the track density of the data tracks over the second radialsegment.
 2. The method as recited in claim 1, wherein the first radialsegment includes an outer diameter band of the data tracks and thesecond radial segment includes a middle diameter band of the datatracks.
 3. The method as recited in claim 1, wherein the first radialsegment includes an inner diameter band of data tracks and the secondradial segment includes a middle diameter band of data tracks.
 4. Themethod as recited in claim 1, wherein: (a) the head internal to the diskdrive is used to write the spiral tracks to the disk; (b) the actuatorarm is rotated about a pivot to move the head radially across the diskwhile writing the spiral tracks; and (c) the actuator arm is moved at afirst angular velocity while writing the spiral tracks over the firstradial segment and moved at a second angular velocity while writing thespiral tracks over the second radial segment, wherein the first angularvelocity is substantially greater than the second angular velocity. 5.The method as recited in claim 4, wherein an external spiral trackwriter is used to write the spiral tracks to the disk.
 6. The method asrecited in claim 1, wherein the step of demodulating the high frequencysignal in the spiral tracks comprises the step of opening a demodulationwindow using the servo write clock, further comprising the step ofshifting the demodulation window in time relative to the servo writeclock to seek the head from the first target circular path to a secondtarget circular path.
 7. The method as recited in claim 1, wherein thestep of demodulating the high frequency signal in the spiral trackscomprises the step of demodulating the high frequency signal into aplurality of servo burst signals.
 8. The method as recited in claim 7,wherein the step of generating the position error signal comprises thestep of computing a difference between the servo burst signals.
 9. Themethod as recited in claim 8, wherein the step of shifting thedemodulation window causes the plurality of servo burst signals to shifta corresponding amount to generate a non-zero position error signal. 10.The method as recited in claim 1, wherein the step of demodulating thehigh frequency signal in the spiral tracks comprises the step ofintegrating the read signal to generate a ramp signal.
 11. The method asrecited in claim 10, wherein the position error signal is generatedrelative to a target sync mark in a spiral track and a reference pointof the ramp signal.
 12. The method as recited in claim 11, wherein thestep of shifting the demodulation window causes a corresponding shift inthe target sync mark to generate a non-zero position error signal. 13.The method as recited in claim 1, wherein the step of demodulating thehigh frequency signal in the spiral tracks comprises the step ofgenerating an envelope signal from the read signal.
 14. The method asrecited in claim 13, wherein the position error signal is generatedrelative to a target sync mark in a spiral track and a peak in theenvelope signal.
 15. The method as recited in claim 14, wherein the stepof shifting the demodulation window causes a corresponding shift in thetarget sync mark to generate a non-zero position error signal.
 16. Adisk drive comprising: (a) a disk having a plurality of spiral tracksrecorded thereon, wherein: each spiral track comprises a high frequencysignal interrupted at a predetermined interval by a sync mark; and aslope of the spiral tracks over a first radial segment of the disk issubstantially steeper than the slope of the spiral tracks over a secondradial segment of the disk; (b) a head actuated over the disk; and (c)control circuitry for writing product servo sectors to the disk todefine a plurality of data tracks by: using the head to read the spiraltracks to generate a read signal; processing the read signal to detectthe sync marks in the spiral tracks to synchronize a servo write clock;processing the read signal to demodulate the high frequency signal inthe spiral tracks to generate a position error signal used to maintainthe head internal to the disk drive along a first target circular path;and using the head internal to the disk drive and the servo write clockto write product servo sectors to the disk; wherein the steeper slope ofthe spiral tracks over the first radial segment causes a track densityof the data tracks to be lower over the first radial segment of comparedto the track density of the data tracks over the second radial segment.17. The disk drive as recited in claim 16, wherein the first radialsegment includes an outer diameter band of the data tracks and thesecond radial segment includes a middle diameter band of the datatracks.
 18. The disk drive as recited in claim 16, wherein the firstradial segment includes an inner diameter band of data tracks and thesecond radial segment includes a middle diameter band of data tracks.19. The disk drive as recited in claim 16, wherein: (a) the headinternal to the disk drive is used to write the spiral tracks to thedisk; (b) the head is connected to a distal end of an actuator arm; (c)the actuator arm is rotated about a pivot to move the head radiallyacross the disk while writing the spiral tracks; and (d) the actuatorarm is moved at a first angular velocity while writing the spiral tracksover the first radial segment and moved at a second angular velocitywhile writing the spiral tracks over the second radial segment, whereinthe first angular velocity is substantially greater than the secondangular velocity.
 20. The disk drive as recited in claim 19, wherein anexternal spiral track writer is used to write the spiral tracks to thedisk.
 21. The disk drive as recited in claim 16, wherein the controlcircuitry demodulates the high frequency signal in the spiral tracks byopening a demodulation window using the servo write clock and shifts thedemodulation window in time relative to the servo write clock to seekthe head from the first target circular path to a second target circularpath.
 22. The disk drive as recited in claim 16, wherein the controlcircuitry demodulates the high frequency signal in the spiral tracks bydemodulating the high frequency signal into a plurality of servo burstsignals.
 23. The disk drive as recited in claim 22, wherein the controlcircuitry generates the position error signal by computing a differencebetween the servo burst signals.
 24. The disk drive as recited in claim23, wherein shifting the demodulation window causes the plurality ofservo burst signals to shift a corresponding amount to generate anon-zero position error signal.
 25. The disk drive as recited in claim16, wherein the control circuitry demodulates the high frequency signalin the spiral tracks by integrating the read signal to generate a rampsignal.
 26. The disk drive as recited in claim 25, wherein the controlcircuitry generates the position error signal relative to a target syncmark in a spiral track and a reference point of the ramp signal.
 27. Thedisk drive as recited in claim 26, wherein shifting the demodulationwindow causes a corresponding shift in the target sync mark to generatea non-zero position error signal.
 28. The disk drive as recited in claim16, wherein the control circuitry demodulates the high frequency signalin the spiral tracks by generating an envelope signal from the readsignal.
 29. The disk drive as recited in claim 28, wherein the controlcircuitry generates the position error signal relative to a target syncmark in a spiral track and a peak in the envelope signal.
 30. The diskdrive as recited in claim 29, wherein shifting the demodulation windowcauses a corresponding shift in the target sync mark to generate anon-zero position error signal.